A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) candidate David Granger yesterday continued to call on the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to verify all of the signed statements of poll from the general elections, saying it is a pre-condition for the acceptance of the results.
Hundreds of APNU supporters converged on the Square of the Revolution yesterday morning to show their support for Granger, who told them that the battle is not over before leading them on a march that ended at the barricades outside the GECOM headquarters, where they “occupied” Main Street at the junction of Urquhart and Lamaha streets. In New Amsterdam, APNU supporters also staged a peaceful picket outside the GECOM office there.
According to the results declared by Chief Election Officer Gocool Boodoo on Thursday, the incumbent PPP/C received a majority of votes to win the presidency, while APNU and AFC secured enough to control the National Assembly by one seat. “We are demanding that every single statement of poll be [verified]. We are looking for any whiteout, any scratch out, any erasures,” Granger said. “We are not going to accept those numbers until we verify those numbers,” he added.
APNU Election Agent Joseph Harmon had written Boodoo, prior to the declaration of results, informing that APNU had compelling evidence of serious discrepancies between its statements of poll and those being used for computing the results by GECOM. As a result, Harmon said that APNU would only accept the final declaration of results based on an all-party and GECOM verification process of the statements of poll of regions where discrepancies were found to exist. Harmon said yesterday that APNU had still not received a response from Boodoo.
Boodoo told Stabroek News on Thursday that a verification could be accommodated, but it would be up to GECOM Chairman Dr Steve Surujbally to decide on it. Contacted yesterday on APNU’s demands for verification, GECOM spokesman Vishnu Persaud said that after the official results would have been declared by GECOM, political parties can challenge those results–or any other aspect of the elections that they believe improper–only through an elections petition, in accordance with the Validity of Elections Act.
Although the other major opposition contestant AFC has said that it would accept the results, when contacted yesterday party leader Raphael Trotman told Stabroek News that it is prepared to support APNU’s call for verification of the statements of poll. “It is a necessary valve to defuse a rise in tensions,” he said, while noting that in the interest of transparency and a level playing field GECOM should extend to APNU the same courtesy it extended to the PPP/C when it granted the ruling party’s requests for recounts. He pointed out that AFC also has an issue with results in the regional elections in District 6, where it got more votes than APNU but got one less seat.
“GECOM’s work is not over, it has a duty to address concerns of legitimate parties,” Trotman added, saying that AFC is all for peace and defusing tensions.
‘Critical’
The western diplomats and the Private Sector Commission yesterday called for the acceptance of the results, placing pressure on APNU to make a concession even as some of its supporters have taken to the streets in protest.
“Brothers and sisters, this is a critical moment in Guyanese history. This is a moment when you have demonstrated your strength [and] power. Do not give up. Your strength has brought us thus far,” Granger said, while addressing the supporters at the Square of the Revolution, where prime ministerial candidate Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine and campaign activist Lurlene Nestor also spoke.
He added that the only language that the PPP understands is the language of strength. “That is why they are afraid of you. They are afraid of your mobilisation. They are afraid of your activism, they are afraid of your organisation. We are not giving up. We are not going to roll over and say the battle is over,” Granger said, while adding that they do not have to put up with victimisation and discrimination.
“You have created a political organization in this country which has never come into existence before. [The PPP] thought this would have been a cake-walk election. They thought they had everything sewed up then you all gave them a big surprise on Monday,” he added, saying that it will not be business as usual.
“We are making some demands, and whoever is president, whoever is government, whoever is National Assembly, whoever is administration [will have to listen] to our demands,” he said.
Granger emphasized that APNU has insisted on the verification as a result of discrepancies, while noting that in South Georgetown about 10,000 votes nearly went “mystic.” “But we were able to find those votes and we were able to ensure they were calculated and put in the overall tally,” he said, while also noting that APNU intended to get to the bottom of the “terrible travesty” that occurred on election day.
“We are going to continue to search for the missing votes. We have not gone to sleep. We have not given up. We are going to continue to demand a complete verification of the statement of poll from every single polling station in the Republic of Guyana,” he added.
Granger also emphasised that based on the PPP/C’s own calculation, more than half of the people do not support it. “I congratulate you on your discipline. I congratulate you for coming out on Monday. But many people did not turn out. It’s just 27,000 votes separate APNU from PPP/C. But 130,000 Guyanese did not vote on Monday. All along the campaign we have been telling people pick up your ID cards, we have been telling people to come out and vote on Monday November 28, we have been asking the minibus drivers to provide transport, we have been asking that you go door to door, house to house, village to village,” he said.
Granger urged that the supporters of APNU continue to remain mobilised.
He made the point that this was not a racial battle, but a battle for those who want a good life. “This is a battle by young people who voted for the first time. This is a battle for women, people who want a lower cost of living and a lower VAT, a decent life for their children, this is a battle for the youths who want a decent education at the University of Guyana,” he said.
“Over the last year you have been mobilising and marching. I ask you to stay mobilized because we are not going to rest until we get a good life. There is too much discrimination in this country and it must stop now. There is too much victimisation,” he said. “We in APNU have been on the side of the working people from the start. We are on the side of the working masses. We know what you want,” he said.
At the end of the meeting at the Square of the Revolution, Granger and the other top officials of the APNU led the protesters north along Vlissengen Road and Irving Street and then west into Lamaha Street before converging at the junction of Main and Lamaha streets, where they remained for about 40 minutes before returning along the same route to the Square of the Revolution.
Meanwhile, APNU supporters also took to the streets of New Amsterdam and staged a peaceful picket there to press the demand for GECOM to recheck the statements of poll.
The group, just under a hundred, converged at the Regional Democratic Council offices and subsequently GECOM’s office at Princess Elizabeth Street, where supporters carried several placards highlighting their concerns.
APNU regional campaign manager John Austin said that the picketing exercise, along with other legal activities as seems necessary, will continue until a conclusion is reached. The picketers, whose presence attracted several police ranks, dispersed shortly after 4pm.
